String instruments having a keyboard



June 3, 1969 E ZACHARIAS 3,

STRING-INSTRUMENTS HAVING A KEYBOARD Filed Dec. 27, 1966 United States Patent rm. (:1. Gillc 3/18 US. Cl. 84-247 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A musical instrument and more particularly a pianotype of string instrument having a keyboard, such as a clavichord. The instrument has a key means which is accessible for actuation by the operator, and a tangent is carried by the key means .to be displaced upon actuation thereof. A stationary anvil is situated in the path of movement of the tangent, and a string extends between and is normally spaced from the tangent and the anvil. A damping means coacts with the string at only one side of the anvil so that when the key means is actuated the tangent will be displaced to a position where the string is clamped between the tangent and anvil to vibrate on the opposite side of the anvil. Upon release of the key means, the string again becomes spaced from the anvil and tangent so that the damping means terminates the vibrations of the string.

The present invention relates to musical instruments, and in general to piano-type of string instruments having a keyboard.

The present invention relates, in particular, to clavichords, and more especially to the actions thereof.

It is known, in instruments of this general type, to strike a string which is stretched between a pair of fixed points, in response to actuation of a suitable action, and the resulting vibrations of the string can be electrically picked up and rendered audible through a loudspeaker.

With conventional instruments of this type the tangent (sometimes known as the jack) which contacts the string is pressed against the latter upon actuation of a key. The point of pressure at which the tangent engages the string divides the latter into a pair of portions, and a damping means coacts with one of these portions of the string to prevent vibration of this latter portion thereof. As the power with which :a key is actuated is increased, the stronger the vibratory excitation of the string, and thus the intensity of the resulting sound is correspondingly influenced. When the key is in its rest position, the string is not engaged by the tangent and the damping means prevents vibration of the entire string, so that there is no more production of sound.

It is also known to provide a second tangent which through a suitable mechanism, is actuated to engage the string at the same location as the first tangent so that the undamped part of the string can continue to vibrate when the key, upon return to its rest position, displaces the first tangent away from the string.

All of these constructions have the disadvantage of providing a vibratory string length which is not precisely determined since the point of engagement of the tangent with the string, depending upon the construction of the action, shifts and cannot be constructed with sufiicient rigidity. As a result there are tuning errors and undesired coupling between the string and other parts of the instrument.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a construction which will avoid the latter drawbacks.

In addition it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction which utilizes a considerable part of a conventional clavichord while at the same time modifying the latter in a relatively simple manner so as to avoid the above disadvantages.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction which will provide an improved tone for the clavichord, as compared to the tone achieved by conventional clavichords.

In accordance with the present invention the clavichord is provided with a key means accessible for actuation by the operator, and this key means carries a tangent which is situated opposite a stationary anvil, and a string of the instrument. extends between the anvil and the tangent so that upon actuation of the key means the string will be clamped between the tangent and the anvil.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing which forms part of this applica tion and in which one possible embodiment of a structure according to the present invention is schematically illus trated.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown therein a string 1 which is stretched between the points 2 and 3. A key means 4 is schematically illustrated as being mounted for pivotal swinging movement about a pivot axis which passes through the key means 4 in the region of its right end, as viewed in the drawing, any suitable structure being provided for releasably maintaining the key means 4 in the illustrated rest position so that the operator can actuate the key means 4 by depressing the latter so as to turn it in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing, with the left end of the key means 4 being displaced downwardly. The key means 4 carries a tangent '5 which is thus displaced when the operator actuates the key means 4. A stop 6 limits the movement of the key means. A darn-ping means 7 is carried by the string 1 in the region of the point 2, and this damping means may take the form, for example, of braided cotton or wool yarns or felt elements which engage the string 1. An anvil 8, which is stationary, is situated at the side of the string 1 which is opposed to the side thereof where the tangent 5 is located, and as is shown in the drawing the tangent 5 is situated over the string 1 while the anvil 8 is situated beneath the string 1.

The anvil 8 has an inclined anvil surface 9 which coacts with the tangent 5, and this inclined surface 9 is inclined toward the damping means 7 and has distant from the damping means 7 a slightly rounded crest 10. As may be seen from the drawing the tangent 5 is carried by the key means 4 at a location which is displaced from the crest 10 toward that part of the string which carries the damping means 7, so that when the key means 4 is actuated the string will be clamped between the anvil 8 and the tangent 5. This construction will press the string against the crest 10 so that no part of the string which carries the damping means 7 will be set into vibratory movement.

The vibrations of the string are sensed by an electrical sound pick-up unit 11, and the resulting electrical vibrations are directed to an adjusting unit 12, an amplifier 13, and a loudspeaker 14.

Thus, with the construction of the invention it is possible to achieve in a simple way a much stronger sound production than has heretofore been possible, since the vibrations of the string are not absorbed in a relatively rapid manner as a result of movable elastic elements which engage the string. A resonator means 16 may be situated beneath this string.

The anvil 8 is made, in accordance with the invention, of a relatively hard, rigid material such as a suitable metal, and the tangent 5 is made of a relatively soft, yieldable, elastic material having the properties of rubber, for

example, the tangent being made of synthetic rubber in one possible embodiment.

What is claimed is:

1. In a clavichord or like instrument having a keyboard, key means accessible for actuation by the operator, a tangent operatively connected to said key means to be displaced upon actuation of said key means, a stationary anvil situated in the path of movement of said tangent, a string extending between and normally spaced from said tangent and anvil, and damping means coacting with said string on only one side of said anvil for damping vibrations of said string, said key means, when actuated by the operator, displacing said tangent to a position where said string is clamped between said tangent and anvil to vibrate at the side of said anvil opposite from said damping means with the latter acting to damp vibrations of the string upon release of said key means by the operator so that the string again becomes situated between and spaced from the tangent and anvil.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said anvil is made of a relatively rigid, hard material.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said material is metal.

4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said tangent is made of an elastic, yieldable material having properties similar to those of rubber.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein an electrical pick-up means is situated adjacent said string for picking up the vibrations thereof.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a resonator means is situated beneath said string.

7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said tangent is directly carried by said key means for movement therewith.

8. In a clavichord or like instrument having a keyboard, key means accessible for actuation by the operator, a tangent operatively connected to said key means to be displaced upon actuation of said key means, a stationary anvil situated in the path of movement of said tangent, a string extending between said tangent and anvil, said key means, when actuated by the operator, displacing said tangent to a position where said string is clamped between said tangent and anvil, and damping means carried by said string at one side of said anvil, said anvil having an inclined surface directed toward said string and tangent and said surface being inclined toward said damping means and said inclined surface having a crest situated at a part of said inclined surface which is distant from said damping means, said tangent having a location displaced from said crest toward said damping means and when clamping said string coacting with a portion of said inclined surface of said anvil which is situated between said crest and said damping means.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said anvil is made of a hard, relatively rigid material while said tangent is made of a relatively soft, elastic, yieldable material.

10. In a clavichord or like instrument having a keyboard, key means accessible for actuation by the operator, a tangent operatively connected to said key means to be displaced upon actuation of said key means, a stationary anvil situated in the path of movement of said tangent, a string extending between said tangent and anvil, said key means, when actuated by the operator, displacing said tangent to a position where said string is clamped between said tangent and anvil, and damping means carried by said string at one side of said anvil, and said anvil having directed toward said string a surface which is inclined toward said damping means and coacts with said tangent for clamping said string.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,194,870 7/1965 Tondreau 84-1.16 3,296,916 1/1967 Palmer 84--1 3,357,291 12/1967 Carmichael 84--267 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

JOHN F. GONZALES, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

